Cocina Café Malabar — Restaurant in Palm Bay

Walking in, I was very impressed with the massive selection this place has. Grabbed a ticket and waited maybe a minute for the nice lady behind the glass to ask me what would I like (while she had a smile on her face) ordered yellow rice with pork in the rice topped with black beans. My side I had to get the sweet plantains, and of course, the meat had to be pork. Being Cuban I love pork. While I walked down the line of this massive amount of food I made my way to the salad area, of course, my food wouldn't be complete without an avocado salad. Further down the line I shuffled and made it to the empanadas to which I had to buy some for my kids. In total, I bought six empanadas and my food with the salad and still was under 30 bucks. Sounds like a lot of money but I did get a lot of food. The yellow rice and pork with black beans were delicious and had good flavor. The plantains were ok I think a little too done for my liking. The pork on the other hand was very good, and almost melted in your mouth. The avocado salad tasted fresh and very delicious. Thanks for being here in Palm Bay. Being from Hialeah, it's hard to find good Spanish food where you're not paying through the nose for it. Thank you for...

I happened upon this new gem when stopping by to drop off a package at The UPS Store located in the same shopping center. I was delighted to pop in to see a cafeteria style set with a beautiful selection of delightful Caribbean and Latin cuisine options. The prices for a combo meal of one meat and two sides was less than $10. What an incredible price for a full take out box. I got the yellow rice with pigeon peas, yuca, and pork bites (cerado fritas) with a side of garlic oil. My husband had the shredded pork (pernil), white rice, and fried plantains. So scrumptious! We so enjoyed both of our meals so much and can't wait to go back. We did select 3 different empanadas to try. They were okay but nothing compared to the Empanada King at the Renninger's Flea Market. I loved that their signage was in both English and Spanish to help order. It seemed difficult for the workers to hear me through the buffet glass dividers whether I spoke Spanish or English. It seemed many workers were Spanish-only speaking but some English speakers were accessible to help if needed. I love the authenticity of the food and diversity of the workers. I look forward to coming back to enjoy the excellent flavors...

I ordered a large container of arroz con pollo, rice with chicken, for my kid for dinner yesterday. When he refused to continue eating it I tried it myself and realized it was hard, dry and in clumps. Today at 3pm I took the container of rice back and told the cashier the issue and she had me wait for a manager. When I told the manager she says we don’t have this today and opens the container I said it was yesterday and the sticker with the date is still on it. She makes a face and begins to rant about how she can’t give me a refund because I didn’t call or bring it back yesterday and starts talking about the health department. I told her she can keep the rice and I left. I never asked for a refund and she never asked me what I wanted. Within 10mins of that interaction I called the store and asked to speak with her to let her know how rude she was. The associate who answered said she gone for the day. I then asked if there was another manager and was told they were all busy for the rest of the day. After this experience I will no longer be customer at...